The Music As Podcast

I really enjoyed chatting to Matthew about the elusive ‘draíocht' or magic, the feeling that goes into music, and the otherworldly places that it can take you. Matthew tells me about his journey to India, and his process of apprenticeship in Indian Classical music and how he found his way to a deep immersion in Irish traditional music in East Clare. Matthew also pays a lovely tribute to Tony McMahon, a man deeply in touch with the draíocht who sadly passed away shortly before this interview.

Episode 5 is with Jose Nugent, a fiddle player from East Clare who lives and breathes inclusivity in her musical practice. Josie was inspiring to talk to about how she has made it her life mission to use her musical abilities for the power of good. We talk about her passion for teaching music to young people with learning difficulties, therapeutic work with autistic children and older adults with dementia, as well as her cross-community work in the North. She also has a thriving solo practice as a fiddle player and is hugely influenced by the modal structures of Hungarian composer Bela Bartok. We hear a sample of a a jig 'A Cambridge Cycle' from Josies solo album 'Modal Citizen' which you can find at www.josiebrianmusic.info.

Episode 4 is with Clare Sands, the ‘fearless, feisty fiddler' from Cork. I loved chatting about many shared many interests with Clare. We chat about The magic of the West of Ireland and music as a 'coming home' for Clare in her immersion in Connemara & the development of her collaborative musical project ‘Tírdreacha agus Fuaimdreacha' Music as Self Development and the parallels between live music performance and surfing and the ‘head game' that's involved We here a sample of a track 'Malecón Reel' from Clare's Basement sessions and you can find all Clare's music and upcoming projects on www.claresands.com

In this episode I talk to the award winning guitarist Steve Cooney about his experience of being initiated into an Aboriginal tribe and learning didgeridoo from the tribe elders, music as intuition and the communication that takes place between melody player and accompanist during the live music experience. We also discuss his innovative Geometric Visualisation system for musical notation which he says is internally based on Aboriginal art. You can hear more about this system here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hapQc1rHPyU We also hear a clip from the track Celia Connellan from Steve's album Clár Ársa Cláirsí: Tunes of the Irish Harpers for Solo Guitar and a track O'Farrell's Welcome from Steve's band Éiníní.

In this episode I chat to one of Ireland's greatest bodhrán players Tommy Hayes about his experiences in music. It was fascinating to get an insight into the powerful work Tommy has done for almost 20 years as a music therapist. We got into the nitty gritty of how music can heal, especially in combination with guided imagery and meditation, helping people to resolve deep seated traumas. We also get how Tommy's therapeutic work connects to his experience of improvising as a percussionist and we chat about connections between music and agriculture. Check out Tommy Hayes on bandcamp to hear is incredibly eclectic solo albums An Rás and A Room in the North.

In this episode the renowned fiddle player and singer Mairéad talked to me about music as healing in her life and the old Irish songs and tunes as portals into understanding a very different view of the world around us. Opening music credit: Pota Óir by Kíla www.kila.ie An Grianstad composed by Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh

Here's a trailer intro to the new podcast project to tell you what it's all about.. I'm delighted to be joined by the wonderful Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh as my first guest, to be released next Monday. It was so inspiring to talk to Mairéad about what music has meant to her in her life and I'm really looking forward to sharing it with you.. Music Intro is Pota Óir by Kíla www.kila.ie Photo credit: Olesya Zdorovetsky